Resident questions San Antonio plan to reprogram roughly $2.1 million for affordable housing, urges developer set-asides
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Summary
At a San Antonio public hearing on a proposed Amendment No. 1 to the Fiscal Year 2026 Action Plan, a resident asked whether a reprogramming of approximately $2.1 million will benefit low-income renters and pressed the council to require developers to include affordable units, citing local incomes and neighborhood needs.
A resident raised sharp questions Monday during a San Antonio City Council public hearing about a proposed Amendment No. 1 to the Fiscal Year 2026 Action Plan that would reprogram funds for affordable housing.
The resident asked who would benefit from the transfer and whether the reprogramming would help low-income renters and homeowners, saying, "¿Cuál es el propósito? ¿Cuál es la razón de intercambiarlo?'" and later asking whether developers could be required to reserve units as affordable: "el porcentaje si va a ser 10 por 100 de eso, de esas unidades en estos desarrollos que sean asequibles." The transcript renders the reprogrammed amount as "2 billones 115000 430 dólares"; the intended figure appears to be about $2,115,430, but the transcript formatting is unclear.
The comment came during the public hearing on the amendment, which the chair introduced as an item to reprogram funds intended to support affordable housing activities in the city. The resident said many local workers earn "8 o 10 dólares a la hora" or roughly $30,000 a year and expressed skepticism that market-rate development will make housing affordable for those households.
"No queremos que ellos sigan enriqueciéndose," the resident said, criticizing what they described as giving public money to wealthy developers and urging the council to focus on basic needs such as street repairs and flood mitigation in underserved districts.
The hearing record shows two speakers were called for this agenda item — Antonio Díaz followed by Dayana Flores Uriega — and the resident referenced another speaker during remarks, but the transcript does not clearly attribute each block of speaker text to a distinct named person. The chair read roll call at the start of the meeting and noted that Mayor Jones and multiple council members were present.
No vote or formal council action on the amendment is recorded in the provided transcript excerpt. The chair closed the public comment period for the item and moved the meeting to the general public comment portion.
The resident’s comments emphasized requests that the council require explicit affordability set-asides in development projects funded or supported by the reprogrammed dollars and highlighted concerns that small fees and shifting funds away from basic infrastructure could disproportionately affect low-income San Antonio residents.
